[Video] Heaven is a Shadow DN1 at Road Atlanta
Clad in black, with striking aero, the Shadow DN1 debuted in the 1973 F1 season. Designed by ex-BRM man Tony Southgate in a single garage it was piloted in its first year by Shadow’s Jackie Oliver, George Follmer and Graham Hill at his fledgling Embassy Team.
The low-drag shape was enabled by side-mounted radiators, whilst the distinctively tall airbox aimed at reducing disturbance over the rear wing. Southgate, used to smooth-running V12s, was inexperienced with Shadow’s grumbly Cosworth DFV V8 later revealing the DN1 ‘vibrated so much that everything fell to pieces!’. Mysterious Ex-CIA and Shadow Team boss Don Nichols also had a strained relationship with Goodyear, leading to the Shadow being lumped with ‘concrete tyres’ all season. This came to light after Southgate witnessed Brabham’s Carlos Pace beat Oliver’s Silverstone time by 2.5 seconds when he took out the DN1 on his own tyres.
A good debut race at South Africa gave Follmer 6th, and a strong follow up gave him and the DN1 a spot on the bottom of the podium in Spain. Oliver matched that 3rd place later in the year at Canada’s Mosport Park. While struggling for reliability, over the ’73 season Follmer and Oliver earned five and four points respectively in the DN1 – topping Lauda and Regazzoni in that year – leaving the Shadow Team eighth in the constructers’ championship.
With that history it must make peddling the jet black beauties one of the finest experiences you could have in 2018.